If You Leave
by TJ Sparkles
Summary: Chris Jericho's world has just came crashing down. How will he deal with the aftermath? Jericho/OC, oneshot.


"**If You Leave"**

**Disclaimer: You guys know the drill with this. This is a work of fiction, intended for nothing other than fun. I do not own Chris Jericho--I only own the OC Cassie. Do not sue. I hope you guys enjoy this..it just popped up in my head. **

_I was blind but wasn't naïve_

_I watched, helpless, as you turned around to leave_

Chris Jericho watched helplessly as the one thing in his life that mattered the most—his soul mate, his reason for living, all that mushy stuff—stormed out the front door of the house they shared, with a large suitcase packed with clothes and various other belongings in one hand and a set of car keys in the other. Chris knew what was happening; had known it for a while, but never tried to stop it. Because he knew he couldn't. No, when Cassie made up her mind to do something, she followed through with it. That quality had always been attractive to him, until now. He wanted to go after her; wanted to tell her not to go, that he needed her, but he couldn't.

He didn't know why Cassie was leaving, either. Sure, the two of them had been arguing quite a bit the past couple of months, but Chris figured that was just due to the fact that he'd been on the road for so long, and hadn't been able to make it back home earlier than he had promised. But he and Cassie had been dating for nearly four years now—Cassie should be used to his schedule by now. Another fault Cassie had was that she wouldn't tell Chris when something was bothering her. She'd just keep it to herself and it would steam, eventually boiling over. _I'm not a mind reader,_ Chris would tell her. _If something's bothering you, you need to tell me. _And Cassie would constantly reassure Chris that nothing was wrong, leaving Chris with no choice but to believe her. In hindsight, Chris thought, maybe he shouldn't have dropped the subject when Cassie told him that nothing was wrong. Maybe he should have pried a little more. If he had done that, would they still have ended up at this point? Chris didn't know. All he knew was that the woman he loved was leaving, and he couldn't do a thing to stop her.

_After all this time_

_I never thought we'd be here, never thought we'd be here_

_When my love for you is blind_

_But I couldn't make you see it, couldn't make you see it_

Cassie had finally finished gathering up her belongings, and was now getting in the front seat of the black Toyota Prius that Chris had gotten her for their two-year anniversary. Her keys were still firmly clutched in her hand and she kept her head down, refusing to look at Chris. She did this because she knew that if she looked into his eyes, she wouldn't be able to leave. She still loved Chris, and had always thought that they might get married someday, but somewhere along the line things changed. Chris was always on the road, and the time spent apart from him made Cassie realize that this was not the kind of life she wanted. She did not want to be a wrestler's wife, as selfish as that sounded. She remembered discussing it with Randy Orton's wife Samantha, and she remembered what Samantha had told her.

"_If you truly love Chris, you'd follow him anywhere," Samantha had said. "It is hard, and there are times that I get really upset, but I love Randy and I can't imagine being without him."_

Cassie wanted to have a life of stability. She didn't want to be traveling all across the world for the rest of her life. She wanted to settle down in one place, have a family, and be happy. As much as it pained her to think of it, she knew that Chris couldn't give her that life and it wasn't fair for her to ask him to give up his dream. She sighed sadly as she buckled up her seat belt. Maybe this wasn't the best way to end the relationship, but it was the only way she knew how.

"Cassie, wait." Chris placed his hand on the window, signaling for Cassie to open the door. She hesitated a little, because she knew what Chris was going to say. Reluctantly, she rolled her window down and looked up into the beautiful eyes of the man she had loved for so long, and still loved. His eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"What, Chris?" She tried to keep her voice cold and devoid of emotion. She didn't want Chris to know that she had been crying too, that she had lost several nights of sleep trying to decide what to do. This decision had not been an easy one; it wasn't as if she had just woken up one morning and decided to leave.

"Can you please just tell me what's going on? I mean, did I cause this?" Jericho's voice was wavering and Cassie wanted to just get out of the car and wrap her arms around him and tell him that she still loved him. Chris looked so sad and so lost. Cassie knew that this wasn't going to be easy on him, but it wasn't going to be easy on her, either.

"Nothing's going on, Chris," Cassie lied, keeping her eyes to the ground. "I just can't do this anymore. I'm sorry." She couldn't look at him, couldn't stand to see the tears in his eyes. Maybe someday he would forgive her, maybe not, but she had already made up her mind about this. There was no turning back.

"You can't do this anymore," Chris repeated. "What, that's it? After almost four years together, you just don't love me anymore? Is that it?" He opened the door himself and knelt down; bringing himself to eye level with Cassie. "Look at me, Cassie."

Cassie refused. She couldn't look at him; she was too ashamed. Plus she had been crying a little as well, and she didn't want him to see it. She needed to be strong.

"Just let me go, Chris," she begged. "Please."

That was when Chris knew that this was truly the end. He loved Cassie, but if she wanted to leave, he wasn't going to make her stay. He couldn't believe that this was coming to an end after so long. He didn't know where he and Cassie would go from this point, and he didn't know what he was going to do without her, but he did know he had to let her go. That's what she wanted. He sighed, a little sad that this was coming to an end, and kissed Cassie gently on the lips as he stood up. He didn't know what the future held or if they would ever be together again.

_I loved you more than you'll ever know  
A part of me died when I let you go_

Cassie pulled out of the driveway slowly, never looking back. She wiped a tear from her eye. This was the end. But deep down, she knew she was going to be okay. Chris stood and watched silently as the love of his life, his whole world, drove out of sight. It was going to be tough to come to terms with this; it was definitely going to take some time. As soon as Cassie's car was out of sight, Chris shoved his hands in his pockets and headed back in the house. Even though his world had come crashing down, he didn't feel as bad as he thought he would. Just a little sad, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He knew he could cope with this. After all, he had always heard that time heals everything. Maybe that was all he needed.

**I'm actually quite proud of this. As I said, I have no idea where it came from; it just popped into my head while I was working on Chapter 3 of "Return of The Champ." Review, please. **


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